Created to fork and continue GNOME2 in the wake of the somewhat negative reception of GNOME3, the MATE desktop environment was born. MATE has loyal followers, who usually immediately install it on their OS of choice. Installation of MATE is possible on many flavors of Linux, including Rocky Linux.
This procedure will get you up and running with MATE on Rocky Linux.
The development team for Rocky Linux 9 has made installing MATE, and other popular desktop environments, uncomplicated by including live images. For those that might not know what that is, a live image is a bootable image that will load the OS without installation. When loaded, you can install it to your machine's disk drive and use it. In addition to the live image instructions, we have included instructions for those of you who want to install MATE after the installation of the OS.
Before installation, the first step is to download the live image and write that to a DVD or a USB thumb drive. As stated earlier, the image will be bootable, just like any other installation media for Linux. You can find the latest MATE image in the download section for Rocky Linux 9 live images. Note this particular link assumes x86_64 as your architecture, and as of this writing that is the only architecture live image available. Download the live image and checksum files.
Verify the image with the CHECKSUM file with the following
(note this is an example! Ensure your image name and CHECKSUM files match):
If the checksum for the file returns OK, you are now ready to write your ISO image to your media. This procedure differs depending on the OS, the media, and the tools. We assume that you know how to write the image to your media.
This again is different by machine, BIOS, OS, and so on. You will need to ensure that your machine is set to boot to whatever your media is (DVD or USB) as the first boot device. If you are successful, you will see this screen:
If so, you are on your way! If you want to test the media, select that option first, or enter S to Start Rocky Linux Mate 9.0.
Remember, this is a live image. It will take some time to boot to the first screen. Do not panic, just wait! When the live image boots up, you will see this screen:
At this point, you can use the MATE environment and see if you like it. When you have decided that you want to use it permanently, double-click the option to Install to Hard Drive.
This will start a pretty familiar installation process for those who have installed Rocky Linux before. In the following screen, we have highlighted things that you may want to change.
Keyboard - Ensure that it matches up to the keyboard layout that you use.
Time & Date - Ensure this matches up to your time zone.
Installation Destination - You will need to click into this option, even if it is just to accept what is already there.
Network & Host Name - Verify that you have what you want here. Provided the network is enabled, you can always change this later if you need to.
Root Password - Set a root password. Remember to save this somewhere safe (password manager).
User Creation - Create at least one user. If you want the user to have administrative rights, set this option when creating the user.
Begin Installation - When all of the settings have been set or verified, click this option.
When you do step 7, the installation process will start installing packages, as in this screenshot:
After the installation to the hard disk finishes, you will see the following screen:
Click Finish Installation.
At this point the OS will reboot. Remove your boot media and when the OS comes up for the first time, there is a licensing agreement screen:
Click the I accept the license agreement check box, and click Done. This will get you to the final screen in the installation. On this screen, click Finish Configuration.
Next you will get a login screen with the user you created. Enter your password, which will get you to the MATE desktop:
Installing MATE after the OS installation is also possible. This takes a few more steps, but is not a difficult process. Just follow these instructions.
If your system had Gnome or another desktop installed before installing MATE, you should be ready to reboot at this time. If there was no desktop installation in existence, you will need to use the following command to set the graphical target:
sudo systemctl set-default graphical.target
Then reboot
sudo reboot
When the system reboots, click on your user name, but before you enter your password, click on the gear icon in the lower right of the screen and select MATE from the desktop list. Login and you should have a fully functional MATE desktop. Future logins should remember your selection.
Now that you have everything you need installed, you next must set the minimal install to boot into the Graphical User Interface (GUI). We can do this by entering:
sudo systemctl set-default graphical.target
Now just keep your fingers crossed and reboot:
sudo reboot
Next, click on your username on the screen, but before you enter your password and login, click on the gear icon to the left of the "Sign in" option. Select "MATE" from the available desktop choices and then enter your password and login. Future logins will remember your selection.
Some people are not satisfied with the newer GNOME implementations or just prefer the older MATE GNOME 2 look and feel. Getting MATE installed in Rocky Linux will provide a friendly, stable alternative. For Rocky Linux 9.0, the developers have made the whole process very simplistic with the available live image.
Author: lillolollo, Steven Spencer
Contributors: Steven Spencer, Serge, Ganna Zhyrnova